urn run - prep

Lack of man power had been haunting the medical field for the past 8 months. Since the loosening of Covid control; hospitals around the island had been flooded with patients. Wards were full and admitted patients had been backlogged and kept in the ED. The major element leading to such condition was the lack of nursing staffs. The wave of resignation had swept through the island and we ward were closed down. We had similar problem and a whole floor was shut down. My name was marked on our roster for 22 times instead of the usual 15. Any straight leave would land me on a very long streak of continual shift. It was inevitable for me to tolerate such hardship should I decided to proceed with the mission.

K was the roster master and he would do everything to satisfy our need; thence the deciding factor would be availability of the flight.

Price was not much a difference as I was buying the ticket on a very close date.

Not much choice to choose from however it still took me 10 days to make the final decision.

I had consulted my parents about the ritual of moving when I finally get all the info and completed the relocation site selection. My parents had been followers of Soka Gakai for a long time and my bro was currently with Tzi Chi. I had asked them if they wanted to bring some local followers up for chanting/praying and they had told me it was not necessary. I had hesitated for a while about performing the ritual all by myself. I had experience facing the dark side but yet performing the ritual alone? It would be my first time for such ritual; not sure if I could handle the price to be paid....

The date was fixed eventually and I had planned to rent a car, put up one night in KL, proceed the relocation on D2 and returned to KL on D3 for final preparation of taking flight back on D4. I was still confused about getting someone accompanied me for the whole process.

The great one had however answered to my call; when I informed my bro about my decision and date of return. He told me that he would be back during that period and would pick me up in KL and complete the mission together.

The process had actually stretched over few weeks before everything was finalized. The uneasy sense cause by uncertainty was an agonizing event for me. Disturbance and unrest were diluted by stress resulted from overworking.

I did not feel any relief when I booked the flight ticket. There were so many events to worry about; the extraction process, the 380km journey, the return flight from Senai to KLIA and much more. I knew I would have to put my faith upon the Great one to take me through the process.

urn run - the first step

I had fragmented information about the temple and location of the urn. The Jalan Kerayong had 2 entry; one around the palace and the other around the old airport. All I know was the name of the temple and the number on the rack (3033 or 3303). I need to identify if the urn was still there before I proceed further.

The 1^st part was simple, just Googled and I had the address and phone number. The street view confirmed that it was truly the site I last visited 5 years ago. I Whatsapped the number as indicated from the FB. I got a late reply asking me to provide the information about the urn's cubical.

All I knew was the name of my grandfather and the cubical position of 3033 or 3303. It took the admin a few days before she replied me that no name similar was noted at both the position. However she showed a two letter name name which she thought might be relevant to what I described. I grinned when I saw the name; the surname was the same but the name was “進” instead of the “进” which I sent. It was traditional Chinese vs simplified Chinese; my bad for not knowing some of the young Malaysian Chinese did not learnt traditional Chinese.

It was the first step of starting the journey. A further inquiry about the procedure and payment needed was done and I proceeded to the next step.

Sourcing the relocation site was not an easy job as I had set down a requirement which I considered as crucial.

The cubical would have to be at eye level; so that when we visit the columbarium we could have a good view without torturing our neck or back. The sourcing job had to be trusted to my sister in law. She had visited two of the memorial park around Kulai. Movie clips and photos were taken to aid our selection process. For the N memorial park, most of the cubical were purchased and only a few leftover. The new one was undergoing construction and could only be available by the end of the year. The leftovers were either to high( 4 meter up !) or located at a very strange position. 

The P memorial park had however provided us with more choice but most the cubical were meant for couple with larger space to contain 2 urns. We were considered lucky as there was still some cubical that met my condition.

The price was however a little bit weird; a 25% discount would be given if you paid by installment. If the cubical was to be used before the installment end; the full amount would need to be paid up immediately upon the cubical usage. In our case as we need to use it stat, the price would be RM26k. I was satisfied with the result and my bro had agreed with my choice. Prior to the payment, the staff had however offered a 40% discount to my sister in law and we had taken up the offer with grace.

The procedure had however involved 2 police reports to be done prior to the shifting of my grandfather urn. One would be done in KL and the other would be done in Kulai. The ashes was considered as remnant of the deceased and would be treated as control item; the police would need to monitor such process according to the law. The temple side told me that the police reporting would be done by them and my sister in law would make the report with the Kulai police station 1 day prior to the relocation.

Everything was set though and I would need to fix the day of travel….